Mumbai: Hanging Gardens at Malabar Hill to do a Houdini

The iconic Hanging Gardens at Malabar Hill sits on a reservoir that supplies water to the area

The city's iconic Hanging Gardens will temporarily lose its charm as the BMC plans to rebuild the British-era Malabar Hill reservoir underneath the park. Once the project starts, officials said, the popular park will be uprooted in a phased manner to access the massive water storage tank that supplies water to the D ward, which is home to several high-profile citizens.

The overhaul and expansion of the reservoir will cost an estimated Rs 300 crore. Officials said that though the paperwork has started, the actual groundwork will take time and the garden will remain untouched for at least one and a half year.

The work of the reservoir will be carried out in six stages. The first stage will be done next to the garden, which came up in 1881, where the BMC will build an additional compartment to the existing five chambers underneath the garden.

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Sources said that the focus will be to ensure uninterrupted water supply to the area. They said that BMC will rip open the garden to reconstruct the five old chambers only after shifting pipelines and building the new compartment.

On the impact of the project on the trees in the garden, a civic official said, "They may have to be transplanted and the revamp of the garden will have to be done post the completion of the project. For the transplant, permissions from the tree authority are yet to be taken as the extent of the damage is yet to be accessed."

The five compartments will also be repaired in parts by demolishing and reconstructing one at a time so that at any given time five compartments are operational to supply water to the D ward.

The project, which is expected to take about five years, will boost the storage capacity and increase water supply to the residents of Malabar Hill, Peddar Road, Girgaum and Tardeo. The storage capacity of the reservoir will increase from 143 million litres to 191 million litres.

A senior civic official not willing to be named said, "While smaller maintenance has been routinely taking place, this is for the first time in over 140 years the reservoir would be rebuilt completely. It was essentially built as a filter bed for storing water and was later used as a reservoir, and the BMC continued its use similarly."

The Hanging Gardens at Malabar Hill came up 140 years ago and the reservoir is older than that, said civic officials

The official said the project is now at the tendering stage. "There is no question of the garden being disturbed any time soon. As the garden stands above the planned project it will have to be disturbed but we are planning to do that in parts just like the reconstruction work so that citizens don't suffer. Further, the complete makeover of the garden will have to be done after the underground project is completed."

Officials involved in the project also said that the CRZ - Coastal Regulation Zone - clearance has already been taken. "As it is the reconstruction of the water source, it was not a problem to seek the permissions," said an official.

BMC bungalow to get affected

BMC sources said the project will also disturb one of the two bungalows, belonging to the hydraulic engineering department that have been allotted to the additional municipal commissioners. However, the structure won't be impacted for at least two or more years, they said. The official added, "The AMC bungalow too stands nearthe project work and we are yet to ascertain how much portion will have to be disturbed and if it can be saved. The project work is likely to be completed in the next five years."

Rs 300 cr
Estimated cost for reservoir expansion project

143mn litres
Current capacity of the reservoir

191mn litres
Capacity of the reservoir after expansion work is completed

Six
No. of stages that the repair work will be carried out in